Does anyone have any experience with hauling kids in car seats in an extended cab Ford? Because I now have twins, I need to trade in my regular cab truck for something with a little more room. But the budget is tight, so I am looking for a used truck. I have found a 1995 F-250 extended cab. The price seems right, but I am concerned about the room. Will the car seats fit in the backseat? Will it be a huge pain to get the kids in and out? Because the truck is not nearby, I won’t have the option of testing the car seats to see if they fit before I go to buy the truck. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

First of all - Congrats on the twins! Mine just turned two last week. If you can survive the first 6 months you'll be OK.

I've got a 98 150 XLT supercab and the seats fit in there just fine. I have long legs and I had no problem fitting one of the car seats behind the driver's seat. Getting in and out is pretty easy with the 3rd door and the running boards - 2 things I'd recommend you get to make life easier. I felt completely safe driving them around in that truck and would not trade that safety factor for anything.

FWIW, you may want to try to find car seats with a detachable base. That way you do not have to fiddle around with the seat belt every time you need to go somewhere - you just drop the seat into the base and it is locked nice and tight. Just make sure the base is secured properly - we went to our local sheriff's department and they checked everything over and made sure the seats were properly secured.

 

What about when the kids move up to the bigger, fonrt facing carseats? Is there still adequate room?

 

We've got Britax Roundabouts and they fit just fine.

 

if I read correctly you said a 95? There were no rear doors on that model year so I would say no. That's probably more difficult than getting kids into the back seat of a Camaro.

The Supercab has more than enough room (my sister puts hers into back seat of supercab Dakota with no problem)

But make sure you get a 97 or newer with an access door to the rear seat. Keep in mind, 97 & 98 models only had a passenger side access door... meaning you need to walk around the truck to get them out. 99 and newer have the doors on both sides.

 

Another thing to consider, with the 3rd and/or 4th door in the 97 and up trucks, I'm not sure if that includes the 1997 F-250/350 that is in the "old" body style. I don't know if it has a 3rd door or not, or if it is just the 97 and up F-150s and 99 and up F-250/350 superduties that had 3rd/4th doors. I hope you all understand my comment, it is a bit hard to explain. If you don't, I'll try and get pics or a better explanation.

 

sorry, I had a brain fart.

That's correct. The Superduty didnt get rear doors until 99 when it was redesigned. It was the F150 that had rear doors starting in 97.

 

Thanks for the info and advice. I would prefer to have four doors, but if the price is right I may go ahead and get the truck. Thanks again for the help.

 

if you do, please include the car seat ritual as poart of your test drive. See how easy it is to install and remove the seat and then how easy it is to get the child in and out.

When we test drove the SCrew, we knew that there would be no problem with a car seat in the back, but test drove how easy it would be to get the child in and out.

 

Congrats! Mine just turned one, and we have another one on the way.
If you are tall, problems might arise after the twins are out of the pumpkin seats, and in toddler seats facing rearward. The toddler seats are bigger then the pumpkin seat, and they stick up higher. I could see potential problems for tall people with the toddler seat hitting the back of the front seat.

After they turn 1, the seats get turned around and there is ample room. I didn't have any problems in my 00 F150 SC or my Dad's 02 F350, but I'm not very tall.

 

Well the truck was sold before I could get to it on Saturday. It was a 95 F250HD XLT Diesel 4X4 automatic. It had 116,000 miles on it and was in great shape. It was even two-tone red and gray (just like the OSU Buckeyes). It would have been a great truck. But it sold for $9800 a few hours before I got there. But a four door would probably be better for us as a family. So we will keep looking. Thanks again for the input